Pushing the privatisation program in the form of disinvestment

Submitted by cgpiadmin
on Wed, 02/12/2009 - 00:30

The central government has already sold this year (2009-10) a part of its stake in the hydro power company, NHPC and Oil India Limited (OIL), for a total amount of Rs. 4,260 crore. The government has further announced plans to sell shares of electric power companies - NTPC, Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Rural Electrification Corporation – in the current year itself.

By gradual sale of government shares over the years, as many as 49 PSUs have already been partially privatised and listed on the stock market. In order to blunt the opposition of the working class, the government is proposing to sell some shares to employees of PSUs and to small investors, at a concession of up to 10 percent.

The Congress Party led UPA Government is pushing the privatisation program in its more gradual form of "disinvestment", meaning the sale of a minority of ownership shares to private bidders. Even if only 10% of shares are sold in the first instance, partial private ownership begins to play its role. In the name of "corporate governance", the majority state owned companies begin to subordinate all decisions to the motive of profit maximization. "Share-holders must get maximum returns on their investment" becomes the dominant theme and the driving force of the enterprise.

Whether it is gradual or it is all-at-once, privatisation means shifting ownership of productive assets from the hands of the state into the hands of private individuals and corporations. Decisions such as how much of the value produced should be paid to the workers, and how much should be invested in enhancing the productive potential, are all made according to whatever will benefit the private shareholders. Any reference to the public interest gradually disappears, even in words.

Some government spokesmen are trying to justify the disinvestment program by claiming that the money collected by sale of government shares in PSUs will be used to meet the capital expenditure requirement of government’s social sector programmes. This is an upside down logic. If social programs are the prime concern, then why give up state ownership of productive assets in the first place? Why not manage the assets well and deploy the surplus they generate to finance social programs? To hand over the surplus generating capital to private profiteers, and then claim that the sale proceeds will be used for social programs, is nothing but trickery. Privatisation is being pursued because it suits the interests of the greedy capitalists. This is the real motive.

By gradual sale of government shares over the years, as many as 49 PSUs have already been partially privatised and listed on the stock market. In order to blunt the opposition of the working class, the government is proposing to sell some shares to employees of PSUs and to small investors, at a concession of up to 10 percent.

The working class must not give up its opposition to the privatisation program, no matter if it is pushed gradually or through strategic sale.

The working class demands and fights for social ownership of the gifts of nature and all productive assets that have been created by the labour of the toiling masses. At the heart of this demand is the principle that the claims of those who toil take first priority, not the claims of those who exploit other people's labour. The wealth of India belongs to the workers, peasants, women and youth, not to the corporations who plunder for private profit!

Major Public Sector Undertakings already partially sold to private investors:

PARTY DOCUMENTS

The first part of this pamphlet is an analysis of facts and phenomena to identify and expose the real aims behind the Note Ban. The second part is devoted to a critical appraisal of the government’s claims that it will reduce inequality, corruption and terrorism. The third part is what Communist Ghadar Party believes is the real solution to these problems and the immediate program of action towards that solution.

100 years ago Ghadar Party was formed by Indians in the US.It was historic milestone in our anti-colonial struggle.

The goal of this party was to organise a revolution to liberate our motherland from British servitude and establish a free and independent India with equal rights for all. It believed this to be the necessary condition for our people to hold their heads high anywhere in the world.

Call of the Central Committee of Communist Ghadar Party of India, 30th August, 2012

Working class representatives from all over the country are gathering on 4th September, at a time when a titanic struggle is going on in our country. The struggle is between the majority of toiling and exploited people and a minority of exploiters. It is between the majority whose labour expands wealth and the minority who enjoy the fruits of wealth creation on the basis of their private property and positions of power.